Bhubaneswar: A team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) has seized at least 117 turtles while being illegally transported in train No-18477 Utkal Express in Bhubaneswar. RPF arrested three men and a woman in this connection and handed them over to Forest department in Mancheswar.

The arrested were identified as Ajay Mohana (43), Bimal Shit (37), Subashis Parida (25), and Sushma Barik (50), all four from West Midnapore district of neighboring West Bengal.

RPF was tip-off by a reliable source that the four accused were suspiciously carrying the seized turtles in the rear General Coach of Utkal Express. On arrival of the train at Bhubaneswar railway station, the RPF team conducted a raid leading to the arrests and seizure of the turtles.

During the search, four bags were found kept under the seat of general compartment and after checking the bags, the live turtles were spotted. Later, they revealed that they all travelled by train No-12821 Dhauli Express from Belda station and got down at Sakhigopal station.

Again, the accused travelled from Sakhigopal by train to Birapurushottampur. They purchased 117 turtles by paying Rs 7,200 to one Narendra Behera, a resident of the village in Puri. They boarded Utkal Express at Sakhigopal and were travelling to Jaleswar to sell the turtles in the local market.

Forest department initiated legal action against the four accused under Wildlife Act, 1972. A case has been registered against them.

A detailed probe into the illegal transportation is underway, a senior official said.